It’s usually 2-3k cash rebate or special finance rate. You rarely get to stack them and get both. If you take the 0% you are usually paying 2-3k more than a cash buyer.

Almost all engines are interference engines. VW used to use a non-interference engine but that was years ago. I don't know of any in current production.

Have you tried driving 15 hours? You might be surprised, it's not that hard.

Cars don't do any of those three things.

That's why you buy the car and lease the wife.

I have back problems and 15 hours sounds like a nightmare scenario.

I think it's more of a mental thing. We drove from Colorado this year in one day and it was about 15-16 hours. We had two drivers though which helped a lot. Not sure if I could do it by myself.

Hmm - never heard the term before but interesting. So you are saying just the possibility of interference exists, not that it happens on every stroke right? So if you get interference, what exactly happens? At max compression when piston is pushed up to its highest point, both valves are closed, so then somehow the piston causes a valve(s) to open? Then it's a major problem and you need a timing belt adjustment?

I drive 6 hours a couple times a year, and it's ok, but not something I look forward to. I did an 8 hour drive and it was a real grind. Plus I avoid driving at night, which would be impossible to do outside of the summer on a 15 hour trip, and even then you're waking up very early.

The possibility for interference exists on every stroke. But it should never happen. If it does, bad things will result.

When the valves open, to allow air/fuel into the chamber or to allow exhaust to escape, they physically occupy space that will interfere with the piston when it reaches the top of the chamber. That's why precise timing is involved.

If a timing belt breaks, the valves are no longer being controlled by the camshaft so will often remain in whatever position they were in at the time of the break. Inevitably, some will be open and will interfere with the piston. At best, you'll only have bent/broken valves. Very often, add broken piston(s) to that. Worst case, the head (where the valves reside) is damaged and/or parts explode through the block and/or head. A broken timing belt is usually a death sentence for an engine, particularly when under load (high rpm's).

I had a timing belt fail (it was under recall that I was unaware of because of a move). Luckily, I was just pulling into a parking spot. Engine stopped immediately. Bent everything. Since they failed to contact me about the recall, new engine was free and they paid for my rental while it was in the shop.

last year i replaced a 12 year old car with a brand new car
to my shock my insurance on the new car for full coverage was slightly cheaper than insurance on the old car with no comp or collision. YMMV but i guess new cars really are that much safer now.

no but i almost did. for example for some reason in Maryland Hondas are a lot cheaper than in other states even with their scam fees. But i got a local dealer to match their price early in the year on an old model but this was a few months before the world went to hell.

Pretty much this. I was only pointing this out as OP mentioned having a 2007 car with 140k so it may have been relevant. Also a very important thing to check for anybody delving into the used car market to know if it has a belt and when it was last changed. Worst case you can always take off the cover and inspect yourself(or better yet have a mechanic inspect) if you are looking at purchasing.

Make no mistake, there are many people driving cars they cant afford and they are likely not maintaining as recommended, especially if they are selling. I purchased a 2002 Accord last year with 60k miles and first thing I did was replace the timing belt simply b/c it was 18 years old.


Almost all 2021 cars use timing chains now so chances of breaking are almost nil. Off the top of my head I can only think of Honda Odyssey still using a belt

then i suppose the math depends on how much you're financing and if you can leverage the amount you aren't paying up front to make more than 2-3k over the loan term while also adjusting for inflation over the loan term.
seems the more you finance the more it makes sense to take the 0% financing instead of the rebate.

Only if you're not paying it off early

paying off a loan that low can be a leak in many circumstances
if you're getting a 0% or 0.9% loan (or perhaps even a 1.9% loan if the timing is right) over five years with fixed payments over the term of the loan you're almost always beating the inflation rate.
you could very well be losing some amount of money if you pay it off early.

the last five or six years are a bit of an extreme, but to demonstrate the point:

2016: $500 = $500 (0%)
2017: $500 = $510 (2.1%)
2018: $500 = $523 (4.6%)
2019: $500 = $532 (6.5%)
2020: $500 = $539 (7.8%)
2021: $500 = $569 (13.7%)

if you don't drop a lump sum on a car and instead sign up for a low interest rate that will most likely beat inflation plus use the extra money for some sort of other investment income, it seems to be a no brainer. a $30k loan at 0.9% will cost you an additional $691 over the term of the loan in interest, which is 2.3% of the original amount.

Assuming you have discipline to put the "extra" into an investment and the investment pays off.

Just had to get new shocks for my Chevy Cobalt, which is at 11 years and 80k miles. I plan on driving it into the ground.

I hate dealing with cars or anything car related. I just need something to get me there.

I own a 2002 Lexus GS300 that is in excellent overall shape, and that has only a bit under 117000 miles on it. My question is this: Should I replace the transmission fluid or not? And if so, should I also have the transmission flushed at the same time? My research so far includes both online research, and consultations with two dealer service employees and two services station mechanics - and the answers so far range from "absolutely not for both changing & flushing" to "change it, but don't flush it" to "yes, it's OK to do both." I don't know whether or not it has ever been changed previously, but I have reason to suspect that it likely has not - at least not during the last 50k miles or so, if ever. So what should I do? Can anyone here enlighten me on this confusing little dilemma?

If its shifting as normal then its probably ok to just have trans fluid changed. If you bought it 50k miles ago then it likely only missed one change at the 60k service.

Thanks, Bosco. It's the "probably ok" part that scares me.

If it has never been changed, I would consider leaving it alone. Some models are bad to start leaking if the first change is well past the point where it should have already been changed.

You might want to take a peek at a Lexus owners forum for more informed guidance.

Don't do the flush, it's unnecessary in most cases.

Having the fluid drained & refilled is a good idea, especially since you don't know if it's ever been done (it probably hasn't). Many cars go their entire lives without ever having it done.

Something to be aware of...old/dirty ATF can mask issues that only appear after a fluid change (i.e., slipping shifts, or changing shift points). Since they appear after the fluid change, that service is often blamed for the problem, but it really just exposed an existing problem.

I would also recommend either a specialized transmission shop or dealership do the service. They are more familiar with transmissions and the proper procedures.

To be honest, the whole flushing the transmission fluid thing seems like a recent mechanic/dealership markup. I’ve had cars go nearly 300,000+ miles without even a single transmission fluid change. Those vehicles were still going strong when I got rid of them for something newer.

I realize this will trigger some mechanics but anecdotally, it’s never been an issue for me. I’ve also never heard of anyone developing transmission problems as a result of not flushing/changing their fluid.